William mathis



(No Model.) 7 2 sheets-sheet 1.

W. MATHIS. SADDLE PAD FOR HARNESS- No.. 578,675. Patented Mar. '9; 1897.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

w. MATHIS. SADDLE PAD FOR HARNESS.

No. 578,575., Patented Mar. 9, 189 7;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAMYMATHIS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SADDLE-PAD FOR HARNESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 578,575, dated March 9, I897.

' Application filed December 11, 1896. Serial No. 615,328. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I,W1LLIAMMArHIs, a citirzen of the United States, residing at the city,

county, and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Saddle-Pads for Harness, of which the following is a specification.

. Pads for harness saddles and collars have been made of inflatable rubber bags, but the surface of the horse is liable to become highly heated and moist with perspiration because of the close proximity of the rubber to the skin, so that the perspiration is confined, and in addition to this the pad usually assumes a convex form and does not set evenly upon the surface, and the air in the pad expands under the animal heat, and the pressure hecomes great and the proper adjustment of the harness is interfered with.

The object of the present invention is to construct a pneumatic pad for harness that can occupy the space of an ordinary pad and will not be liable to change its shape materially under the action of the heat and so that the surface may be ventilated to a very considerable extent for lessening the objectionable effects of perspiration, and the pneumatic pad'is not liable to injury either when in use or by contact with buckles or other projections usually existing upon harness.

In carrying out my invention I employ a 7 rubber tube that is provided with an airvalve, so as to be inflated, and this rubber tube, when expanded, is of a thickness approximating the thickness of the padding in the harness-saddle, and the tube is led backward and forward, so that the width and length are obtained corresponding, or nearly so, to the dimensions of an ordinary saddlepad. The tubes are held in their proper relative positions by interlaced strips of rubber, and the bends in the tube are reduced in diameter by bands passed around the tube at such bends, so that the tube cannot become closed by the lapping or pressing of the surfaces of the rubber upon each other Where the direction of the tube is changed, these bands not only reducing the diameter of the inflatable tube at the bends, but also protecting the rubber and avoiding folds or projecting angles that would otherwise be formed in the bends of the tube and would be liable to injury and excessive wear when in use.

The inflatable pad formed as aforesaid is inclosed in a bag of canvas or similar material and is applied in the harnesspad and secured by the proper covering of felt cloth or similar material intervening between the inflatable pad and the animal and fastened to the external saddle or saddle-tree.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side View, partially in section, of a saddle. Fig. 2 shows the inflated tube without the inclosing bag of canvas or similar material, and Fig. 3 is a section illustrating the bag at one of the bends. Fig. 4 is a side view; and Fig. 5 is an inverted plan, partially in section, showing the pad when made up separate from the saddle.

The tube A is of rubber properly vulcanized and of a suitable diameter, say one inch to one inch and a half, and of the desired length. This tube is provided with a suitable inlet and air-valve B. This tube A is led backward and forward, so as to make up an approximately fiat pad of the proper length and width according to the size and character of the saddle with which the pad is to be employed, and the parts of the tube are held in their proper relative positions by strips or bands 0, preferably of rubber cloth, interlaced or interwoven and passing around the rubber tube A and holding one part to the next, and these strips orbands are at proper distances apart and serve to protect .the rubber tube as well as to.hold the parts of the tube in their proper relation to each other.

Under ordinary circumstances,where an inflated tube is bent and one part laid closely adjacent to the other, a substantially flat or angular bend is made and the tube is closed, or nearly so, at the bends, so that air does not freely pass from one section of the tube to the other, and in addition .to this the projectingangles or bends of the rubber are liable to injury and wear. To prevent these difliculties,

I place around the rubber tube at each bend I of the tube, so that the bend between one part of the tube and another occupies less space, and the tube itself is rounded from the larger diameter down to the smaller diameter and the air-passage between one section of the tube and another is kept open, because there is no angle or fold in the bend, and hence all portions of the inflated air-tube are exposed to similar inflating pressure and risk of injury is effectually prevented.

I provide a bag E, of canvas or similar material, adapted to receive the pad formed of the folded inflated tube, and this bag is of the proper size to take the place of the ordinary pad in the harness-saddle, and the bag is to be closed at the end after the inflated tube has been inserted, so that the bag keeps the parts of the inflated tube in their proper relative positions, so that the pad composed of the inflated tube and the bag can be substituted for an ordinary saddle-pad in the harness; and it is advantageous to use a covering layer F of felt between the bag E and the cloth or other lining G, by which the pad is held to the saddle H; and I remark that alayer of felt I is advantageously employed between the inner side of the saddle H and the bag E, especially at the upper portion of the saddle, where the turret-rings or check-rein hook are applied, so as to protect the bag and the rubber tube from injury by the attaching-nuts or other projections at the under side of the saddle.

hen the pads are made up separately from the saddle, as seen in Figs. 4 and 5, the inflated portion is made as before described,

but the two pads are connected by a web or covering-leather L, extending from one pad to the other. The inclosing fabrics or bags are of any suitable size or material. The pad constructed as before described may be applied to collars as well as to saddles.

I claim as my invention 1. A pad forharness made of a rubber tube laid backward and forward with the different portions closely adjacent to each other, and a band around the rubber tube at each end bend to contract the same and insure an opening for the inflating air between one portion of the tube and the next, substantially as set forth.

2. A pad for harness made of a rubber tube laid backward and forward with the different portions closely adjacent to each other, and

bands or straps for" holding the portions of the rubber tube in their proper relative positions, and a band passed around the rubber tube at the bend to-contract the same and insure an opening for the inflating air between one portion of the tube and the next, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 9th day of December,

WILLIAM MATHIS. VV'itnesses:

E. E. PoHLn, S. T. HAVILAND. 

